Got Stairs?!?!

This morning we added a new trick to our long list!! We can now climb stairs!! It was a battle at first, but she is totally getting the hang of it. I guess we need to get MORE baby gates! We also dance when we hear music, we are eating almost all table food now, and we shake our head no. Standing up and "walking" along on things is becoming easier and easier every day.

We went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch yesterday and they were playing music loud enough that she could hear it and the WHOLE time we were there she was "dancing" to it. Riley will dance even if she hears music on a commercial.....the girl has rhythm!!

We are still fighting off a cough. Joe and I have begun using the nebulizer on her again, but I am thinking that we may make a visit to the doctors soon if it doesn't go anywhere. Riley is just breaking another tooth through....it is making us a little fussy, but nothing a paci or Cheerios can't fix!!

Riley went to GiGi's today or a few hours. GiGi asked me the other day to drop her off so she could make Joe a birthday card for him. So when we picked her up this afternoon she had a card for him....with her little footprints in it. Really cute!!

Taking the stairs.....it is like 2 minutes long, so you can just watch the first few steps and see her moving!!

Grooving to some Justin Timberlake!!

9 months and Santa Came!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!

We are: 9 months today!!

Santa came yesterday and he was very good to Riley!! We have had a very very very busy few days. On Tuesday night Joe and I enjoyed an evening out while Riley spent the night at the Bouch Grandparents house. Grandma gave her a bath again and she loved spending time with them.

Tub time with Grandpa Bouch.

On Wednesday we headed down to my parents house for Christmas Eve and day. We relaxed and enjoyed some good dinner. However, our night was very restless!! Riley was getting a bad cough again and was not happy. We got her down at 8 as usual, but just about ever 30 minutes she was waking up coughing and crying. So finally at 11 I got into our bed for the night and brought her in with me. She still was waking up every 30 minutes coughing and crying, but I was there to sooth her and she would fall back to sleep. She and I was VERY tired on Christmas day!!
Her Christmas outfit.

On Christmas morning we opened presents at my parents then hit the road again to head to the Bouchs for Christmas again. We got there and had dinner then presents. It was a VERY long day and we were all really tired. Riley got lots of great gifts: LOTS of books, clothes, a ball popper (actually 2 of them!!), shoes, wooden shield with her birth info on it, some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse toys, socks, sleepwear, her first Cabbage Patch doll, and many other things!! Our townhouse is way too small for all these goodies!! Buster also made out with a really nice new dogie bed!!

Playing with the Ball Popper from Aunt Kerry and Uncle Brian. (Uncle Tommy and Aunt Tara got her one too!!)

Very tired and Grandpa was comforting her.

We decided that today we were not going to take her anywhere and we were going to let her do anything she wanted.....she really just wanted to sleep and play!! She took 2 3-hour naps!! I guess she was making up for Christmas Eve!! She is now eating table food and wants very little to do with actual baby food. She LOVES the Whole Grain Cheerios, Mac n Cheese, pasta with a little seasoning, rice, and chicken. We are slowly introducing things, but she will have very little to do with baby food now. I think she just really likes to feed herself. I guess we will have to really start cooking dinner now!! I guess I will be able to do that now since I am off until the 5th!! Eating Mac n Cheese and Cheerios!!

Overall we had a great Christmas and we are loving every minute with Riley!! She truly is the happiest baby I have ever met!!

Our Little Fish

This morning Joe and I got up and decided to take Riley to the pool. We figured that since she loves her nightly bath time she would love the pool....and she did!! She loved splashing, dipping her head back, and kicking. We had a great time, although it takes a lot of work to get ready, go, swim, and then all 3 of us change. Luckily the rec center has a Family Changing Room, so we could all get ready together. It made it a lot easier to have a second pair of hands helping out. When we got home Riley went down for a 3 hour nap, I took an hour nap, and Joe relaxed watching football.....we were all exhausted!! Here are a few videos from our days adventures:

"reading" and chatting

Swimming

Talking and standing

A Mover and A Shaker

Riley is defiantly an active baby. If she is awake, she is moving. She does not want to sit and hang out anymore, she would rather be on the floor crawling or standing at the coffee table. She is ALWAYS smiling or laughing and loves to clap now. When she is tired she now likes to be held while you stand, no more sitting to comfort her. She likes to be held upright with her head on your shoulder and rub her back.....although, she LOVES to sleep!! She will take 2 naps a day (Usually the morning one at GiGi's is 2-3 hours!) then another afternoon one (1/5 hours), and then she will sleep from 7:30-9ish!! We are really blessed that we have a baby that "sleeps in"!! But many evenings I spend about 15 minutes (6:30-6:45) pacing with her, just to make her happy when she is getting tired.

Last weekend we went to Aunt Kerry's work to see Santa again. We loved him, although Riley was in need of a nap and so we did not get a smile out of her, but she did get her hand stuck in his fake beard and almost pulled it off!! We went to Aunt Nicole and Uncle Mike's house on Friday for dinner. Riley enjoyed playing with her cousin Gavin and visiting with her new cousin Jack. It was fun to just hang out and chat. Then today Riley and I went to visit her "Aunt" Hollie and LOVED seeing her again. Hollie took a lot of pictures and I can wait to see them. Riley was telling me on the way home that she really wishes I was better at getting together with Hollie, so I assured Riley that it will be one of my many New Years Resolution!!

We are looking forward to my 10 day break from work. I can not wait to spend every day with her. On Tuesday night we are planning to go to Grandma and Grandpa Bouchs house, Joe and I are heading out for a much needed evening out together, while Grandma and Grandpa take over. We will all sleep there, so that Joe and I can enjoy our night out and so we don't have to wake her up when we get home. Riley is really looking forward to spending some much needed time with them and to having a sleep over with them!!

Then on Wednesday we will head down to my parents house for Christmas Eve. We will sleep there and then do Christmas morning/afternoon with them. We will then head back to the Bouchs for the evening of dinner and presents. It will be a BUSY three days.....but we will have the whole next week to relax and rest!! We are all looking forward to spending time with both of our families. Most likely this will be the last Christmas that we travel, starting next year we are hoping to begin our own family traditions at home.

Riley enjoys standing up in her crib and throwing all her paci's over. She then will talk until someone comes in the room. And when you go in you are meet by her just smiling at you!! It is a beautiful sight!!!

Here are a few photos and a video.

Before bed one night she was crawling around while we were getting her pj's and bottle ready, and she stood at the humidifier and peed!! It was pretty funny and look how proud she was!!
A quick family picture

Enjoying a visit from her Uncle Tommy

Visiting Santa at Aunt Kerry's work....we were in desperate need of a nap. But she still liked him.
Until her hand got stuck in his fake beard.....she almost ruined Christmas for all the other kids in line!!
Aunt Kerry holding her after the Santa visit.

Our new "gate" to help keep her away from the tree and tv.

Being a big girl and sitting at the table.

This is how you are greeted when she wakes up!!

When she had just learned to stand in her crib....this was about 2 weeks ago.

Eating more

This evening I was feeding Riley as I was eating soup. She was eyeing it and trying to get some.....so I decided to give her a little. I took out a piece of chicken and a noodle. I let them cook off and broke them into little pieces. When they had cooled down enough I placed the little pieces on her tray and she LOVED them!! So....she is now eating chicken and noodles!! YUMMY!!

A tooth?!?!

Could it be true? We are thinking Riley has her first tooth!! We would have no idea if I had not stuck my finger in to check the "progress". She has not been cranky and has given us no signal that something was growing. Maybe that is because she is too busy moving EVERYWHERE!! If Riley is not crawling somewhere, she is pulling herself up on something, or following Buster around. Her new favorite pass time is to crawl after him.....everywhere he goes. He is such a good puppy that he just lets her and doesn't care. She will crawl over him, on him, pull on his legs, use his legs to try to stand. He is very good and just loves her to bits. I have a video of Riley standing up in her crib that I will post later. We are having trouble getting her to sleep for naps and bed now because she just wants to stand and play. But once she stands she can't sit back down without falling back down on the mattress and that scares her. We also just went a bought a HUGE baby gate that can actually be made into a play pen too. But we currently have it around the TV and TV stand, and the Christmas tree. She LOVES going to the TV stand and trying to stand up or push buttons. Hopefully it helps!! Pictures and videos to come later!